Maybe I had.
Maybe Ethan had simply heard what I was trying to say.
“So Claire turns lights on,” he finished.
No one laughed.
The room was silent.
But the silence no longer felt dangerous.
They weren’t waiting for Ethan to fail.
They were listening to him.
He placed the lantern beside the hummingbird.
Then he pulled out a thin wooden measuring stick.
I almost laughed immediately.
“This,” Ethan announced, “is Claire’s favorite thing.”
I stared at him.
“No, it isn’t.”
He pointed at me.
“Grades.”
People laughed.
“Running times.”
More laughter.
“College rankings.”
Hannah covered her mouth.
“Money saved.”
Mom was crying and laughing now.
“Calories sometimes.”
I wanted to disappear.
Ethan held the ruler upright.
“Claire likes numbers because numbers tell her if she’s winning.”
The laughter stopped.
My smile vanished.
Because he was right.
More right than I wanted him to be.
Ethan looked down at the ruler.
